KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Las Vegas got a pair of defensive touchdowns for the second straight week, and the resurgent Raiders held off the sloppy Kansas City Chiefs 20-14 on Monday to keep their postseason hopes alive. Bilal Nichols returned a fumble 8 yards for a touchdown, and Jack Jones took an interception 33 yards for another score a mere 7 seconds later, helping the Raiders snap a six-game losing streak to the Chiefs. Kansas City wasted a chance to clinch its eighth consecutive AFC West title while dealing a crippling blow to its chances of earning the No. 1 seed and a first-round playoff bye.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw two touchdown passes in a span of 18 seconds in the third quarter and the Baltimore Ravens intercepted Brock Purdy four times in a 33-19 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Jackson and the Ravens turned a highly anticipated matchup between the top two teams in the NFL into a lopsided win thanks to strong performances on both sides of the ball. Kyle Hamilton and the defense set the tone early by intercepting Purdy on three of the first four drives of the game for the 49ers before Jackson started to take the game over.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts scored on the “tush push” that gave him the NFL record for most rushing scores by a quarterback in a season, threw for a touchdown, and the Philadelphia Eagles maintained control of their NFC East title hopes with a 33-25 win over the New York Giants. The Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak. The losses to San Francisco, Dallas and Seattle essentially ended Philadelphia’s bid for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. The Eagles need to win their final two games against Arizona and a rematch against the Giants to clinch the NFC East.
PHOENIX (AP) — UNLV had a breakthrough in its inaugural season under Barry Odom, reaching its first bowl game since 2014. The opponent in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl knows all about program rebuilding. Once the laughingstock of Power Five football, Kansas has turned things around under third-year coach Lance Leopold with consecutive bowl appearances for the first time in 16 years. Odom quickly changed the culture after the Rebels had one winning season since 2000, leading them to their most wins since the Randall Cunningham-led 1984 team when 11-2. Kansas had its most wins since going 12-1 in 2007.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida State quarterback Tate Rodemaker will not play in the Orange Bowl, a school spokesperson confirmed on Monday. Earlier in the day, 247Sports and The Athletic reported Rodemaker intends to enter the transfer portal. Rodemaker participated in open practices leading up to the Christmas break. The Seminoles are set to arrive in Fort Lauderdale later on Monday to begin preparations for Georgia in Saturday’s bowl game. A redshirt junior quarterback, Rodemaker stepped in for injured Jordan Travis on Nov. 18 to guide Florida State to a win over North Alabama. In 2023, Rodemaker completed 32 of 56 passes for 510 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions.
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura will enter the transfer portal after being supplanted as the starter by Noah Fifita. De Laura says in a social media post he will remain with the Wildcats through Thursday’s Alamo Bowl. De Laura threw for 3,685 yards and 25 touchdowns with 13 interceptions last season after transferring from Washington State. He opened 2023 as Arizona’s starter but suffered an ankle injury against Stanford in the fourth game of the season. Fifita played so well in his place that coach Jedd Fisch opted to keep him as the starter after de Laura was healthy enough to return.
UNDATED (AP) — Washington coach Kalen DeBoer is the pride of South Dakota as the Huskies prepare for their College Football Playoff semifinal against Texas Jan. 1. DeBoer grew up in the state and was head coach at Sioux Falls when the Cougars won three NAIA championships from 2006-09. DeBoer had six coaching stops in 12 years after leaving Sioux Falls. His head coaching record is 103-11 at the NAIA and NCAA levels. The people who know DeBoer say if there were a Mount Rushmore of football in the Mount Rushmore State, DeBoer would belong up there if Washington wins the national title.
UNDATED (AP) — Florida Atlantic jumped seven places to No. 7 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll following a double-overtime win over No. 4 Arizona. It’s the Owls’ highest ranking ever after being No. 10 in the preseason AP Top 25. They made a surprising run to the Final Four last season and returned nearly everyone from that team. Purdue remained at No. 1 for the second straight week, with Kansas, Houston, Arizona and UConn rounding out the top five.
UNDATED (AP) — South Carolina remained the No. 1 team in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll Monday. The Gamecocks received all 36 votes from a national media panel, marking the seventh consecutive week that they’ve been No. 1. South Carolina had a run of 38 straight weeks as the top team over the previous two seasons before LSU was the preseason No. 1 this year. With most teams having a light schedule last week ahead of the holidays, the top 10 were unchanged. UCLA, North Carolina State, Iowa and Texas followed the Gamecocks. Southern California, LSU, Colorado, Stanford and Baylor were next. West Virginia entered the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2021 while Washington fell out.
MONDAY SCORES
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final Las Vegas 20 Kansas City 14
Final Philadelphia 33 N-Y Giants 25
Final Baltimore 33 San Francisco 19
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final New York 129 Milwaukee 122
Final Denver 120 Golden State 114
Final Boston 126 L.A. Lakers 115
Final Miami 119 Philadelphia 113